Questions and Replies

Reply:

1.  The Schools Infrastructure Backlog Grant (SIBG) funds the ASIDI portfolio.

2. The DBE is responsible for the implementation of ASIDI projects. In the implementation of these projects, the DBE has commissioned Implementing Agents such as Development Bank of Southern Africa, Independent Development Trust, Coega Development Cooperation to implement the projects on behalf of the Department. Other Provincial Education Departments like the Free State and the Western Cape, also implement on behalf of the DBE. In the planning and implementation of the projects, provinces work with the DBE in identifying schools/ projects, monitoring the implementation, liasing with communities and schools and on completion of the projects, the completed schools are handed back to the respective provinces, who are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the completed assets.

Reply:

The report titled Schools that Work II - Lessons from the Ground will be formally presented to the Minister, and subsequently, to the Council of Education Ministers in September 2017. Thereafter, it will be made available to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education.

Reply:

(a) and (b)

Teachers can go on normal retirement once they reach the age of 60 and compulsory retirement at 65. The table below shows the number of teachers who will reach the age of 60 in the next five (5) years at primary, secondary, combined and intermediate schools.

ROW LABELS	COMBINED	INTERMEDIATE	PRIMARY	SECONDARY	GRAND TOTAL
EASTERN CAPE	73	36	2 616	4 374	7 099
FREE STATE	157	184	1 804	780	2 925
GAUTENG	26	52	4 499	2 765	7 342
KWAZULU-NATAL	7	1	6 715	2 951	9 674
LIMPOPO PROVINCE	91	6	5 617	2 981	8 695
MPUMALANGA	173		3 141	1 078	4 392
NORTH WEST	112	208	2 415	728	3 463
NORTHERN CAPE	39	50	784	294	1 167
WESTERN CAPE	34		2 685	1 517	4 236
GRAND TOTAL	712	537	30 276	17 468	48 993

Source: PERSAL

Reply:

(a) and (b)

Number of educators at primary, secondary, intermediate and secondary school levels.

ROW LABELS	COMBINED	INTERMEDIATE	PRIMARY	SECONDARY	TOTAL
EASTERN CAPE	567	167	15 200	35 151	51 085
FREE STATE	1 280	1 091	10 501	7 923	20 795
GAUTENG	280	351	33 865	24 467	58 963
KWAZULU-NATAL	41	24	50 866	36 485	87 416
LIMPOPO PROVINCE	635	45	26 908	22 741	50 329
MPUMALANGA	1 888		18 239	11 789	31 916
NORTH WEST	1 111	1 678	14 707	7 021	24 517
NORTHERN CAPE	400	400	5 361	2 984	9 145
WESTERN CAPE	206		18 535	10 224	28 965
GRAND TOTAL	6 408	3 756	194 182	158 785	363 131

Source: PERSAL, June 2017

Reply:

(1)(a)(i)

EASTERN CAPE

District	Number of schools
BUTTERWORTH	372
COFIMVABA	229
CRADOCK	68
DUTYWA	355
EAST LONDON	247
FORT BEAUFORT	234
GRAAFF-REINET	73
GRAHAMSTOWN	59
KING WILLIAMS TOWN	375
LADY FRERE	170
LIBODE	415
LUSIKISIKI	226
MALUTI	219
MBIZANA	216
MT FLETCHER	183
MT FRERE	374
MTHATHA	335
NGCOBO	235
PORT ELIZABETH	182
QUEENSTOWN	144
QUMBU	242
STERKSPRUIT	151
UITENHAGE	133
Grand Total	5237

FREE STATE

District	Number of schools
FEZILE DABI	188
LEJWELEPUTSWA	201
MOTHEO	234
THABO MOF	383
XHARIEP	63
Grand Total	1069

GAUTENG

District	Number of schools
Ekurhuleni North	62
Ekurhuleni South	93
Gauteng East	101
Gauteng North	34
Gauteng West	92
Johannesburg Central	106
Johannesburg East	51
Johannesburg North	90
Johannesburg South	59
Johannesburg West	84
Sedibeng East	41
Sedibeng West	104
Tshwane North	92
Tshwane South	69
Tshwane West	87
Grand Total	1165

KWAZULU-NATAL

District	Number of schools
AMAJUBA	188
HARY GWALA	431
ILEMBE	400
PINETOWN	368
UGU	445
UMGUNGUNDLOVU	438
UMKHANYAKUDE	536
UMLAZI	222
UMZINYATHI	484
UTHUKELA	413
UTHUNGULU	612
ZULULAND	723
Grand Total	5260

LIMPOPO

District	Number of schools
LEBOWAKGOMO	196
MOGALAKWENA	204
MOPANI	356
POLOKWANE	500
RIBA CROSS	180
SEKHUKHUNE	514
TSHIPISE-SAGOLE	114
TZANEEN	150
VHEMBE	458
WATERBERG	100
Grand Total	2772

MPUMALANGA

District	Number of schools
Bohlabela	376
Ehlanzeni	331
Gert Sibande	439
Nkangala	471
Grand Total	1617

NORTH WEST

District	Number of schools
BOJANALA	460
DR KENNETH KAUNDA	180
DR RUTH S MOMPATI	357
NGAKA MODIRI MOLEMA	349
Grand Total	1346

NORTHERN CAPE

District	Number of schools
FRANCES BAARD	105
JOHN TAOLO GAETSEWE	164
NAMAQUA	67
PIXLEY-KA-SEME	83
ZF MGCAWU	84
Grand Total	503

WESTERN CAPE

District	Number of schools
CAPE WINELANDS	216
CENTRAL	113
EAST	113
EDEN KAROO	172
NORTH	110
OVERBERG	70
SOUTH	121
WEST COAST	100
Grand Total	1015

(ii)

Province	Number of schools
Eastern Cape	5237
Free State	1069
Gauteng	1165
KwaZulu-Natal	5260
Limpopo	2772
Mpumalanga	1617
Northern Cape	503
North West	1346
Western Cape	1015

(b)(i)(ii) The list of schools with quintiles is attached on an excel spreadsheet.

(c) The list of the number of learners who receives meals is attached on an excel spreadsheet.

(d) (1) Budget allocated per school is determined by provinces, the Department of Basic Education has allocated the following budget per province for the feeding of learners in 2017/18;

Province	Feeding Budget R’000
Eastern Cape	1103 378 880
Free State	344 075 520
Gauteng	732 334 080
KwaZulu-Natal	1392 083 520
Limpopo	1114 933 440
Mpumalanga	590 468 160
Northern Cape	154 374 720
North West	413 736 960
Western Cape	323 875 200
Total	6169 260 480

(2) Provincial Education Departments are responsible for allocating budgets per school.

Reply:

1. According to the Conditional Grant Framework (CGF), the National School Nutrition Programme Provides nutritious meals to all learners in quintile 1 to 3 Primary and Secondary Schools as well as identified special schools on all school days. Furthermore, the CGF provides for deviation from the provisions for implementation subject to compliance to minimum feeding requirements and availability of resources. One of the deviations that may be approved by the national transferring officer (Director-General) based on achievements and/or critical challenges in each province is the number of learners that exceed the gazetted quintiles, that is feeding of learners in quintile 4 and 5 schools.

2. (a)(i)(ii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)The Department does not collect data on schools that are providing meals to learners through alternative sources of funding because this falls outside the scope of the National School Nutrition Programme Conditional Grant.

Reply:

(a) All public schools in the country should be offering school sports activities after normal learning hours. However, the Department, through Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) is currently undertaking a school sport audit that will verify this information.

(b)(i) Physical Education (PE) in South Africa is taught by Life Orientation (LO) Educators who do not necessarily have formal training in Physical Education. However, the Department, through PEDs is currently undertaking a schools sport audit that will include the number of teachers qualified in PE with a view to upskill PE teachers.

(ii) Each school district is serviced by a District Coordinator responsible for school sport. These coordinators then relay the information through (to their respective Provincial Coordinators. The human capacity in each province is as following:

 

Province	No of Districts	No of District Officials	No of Provincial Officials
Eastern Cape	23	23	2
Free State	5	21	4
Gauteng	15	30	2
KwaZulu-Natal	12	18	3
Limpopo	5	7	3
Mpumalanga	4	14	3
Northern Cape	5	5	4
North West	4	19	2
Western Cape	8	8	1

Reply:

(1) All Educators must be registered with the South African Council of Educators (SACE). The SACE is required by law to conduct background checks on all educators as part of the registration process. This includes disclosure and verification of any, previous and pending proceedings, employer disciplinary action or conviction for a criminal offence.

However, in addition, Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), as employers are required to conduct further background checks in line with the regulations on employer suitability checks of employment in the public service. For educators, these are criminal, qualification and identity verification checks.

(2) Currently, the PEDs do not have jurisdiction over the appointments done by School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in SGB posts to the extent of conducting personnel suitability checks in line with the public service regulatory framework or beyond what is the SACE regulations. However, SGBs are encouraged to conduct such checks on educators appointed at schools.

Reply:

The question has been forwarded to the PEDs for response and information will be made available as soon as the responses from PEDs have been received.

Reply:

(a) Four (4) schools did not receive meals.

(b) 3108 Learners were affected.

(c) The reason for non-feeding was the delays in the finalisation of the NSNP BID process. The PED also delayed to issue appointment letters to the contracted service providers resulting in non-delivery of food items to schools.

(d) Officials from the Department of Basic Education visited a sample of schools in five districts viz: Umlazi, Ugu, Umgugundlovu, UMkhanyakude, Ilembe to assess the status of feeding and support NSNP implementation. A meeting was also held with senior management at the Provincial office to discuss a contingency plan to resume feeding in affected schools.

Reply:

(a) Due to the size of the document, the list of schools and learners is attached on Ms excel.

(b) Number of learners per district

EASTERN CAPE

DISTRICT	LEARNERS
BUTTERWORTH	69232
COFIMVABA	45410
CRADOCK	21865
DUTYWA	89416
EAST LONDON	100128
FORT BEAUFORT	34678
GRAAFF-REINET	24192
GRAHAMSTOWN	24983
KING WILLIAMS TOWN	90511
LADY FRERE	38037
LIBODE	164003
LUSIKISIKI	111916
MALUTI	63003
MBIZANA	105568
MT FLETCHER	40345
MT FRERE	107698
MTHATHA	123201
NGCOBO	67845
PORT ELIZABETH	135774
QUEENSTOWN	49540
QUMBU	59695
STERKSPRUIT	54258
UITENHAGE	71560
Grand Total	1692858

FREE STATE

DISTRICT	LEARNERS
FEZILE DABI	102296
LEJWELEPUTSWA	126979
MOTHEO	145325
THABO MOF	169968

GAUTENG

DISTRICT	LEARNERS
Ekurhuleni North	64971
Ekurhuleni South	114896
Gauteng East	103299
Gauteng North	32357
Gauteng West	88993
Johannesburg Central	67692
Johannesburg East	73529
Johannesburg North	75396
Johannesburg South	67035
Johannesburg West	62843
Sedibeng East	28112
Sedibeng West	90583
Tshwane North	82770
Tshwane South	61225
Tshwane West	82437

KWAZULU-NATAL

DISTRICT	LEARNERS
AMAJUBA	102977
HARY GWALA	144385
ILEMBE	156482
PINETOWN	242245
UGU	179305
UMGUNGUNDLOVU	181604
UMKHANYAKUDE	231629
UMLAZI	136421
UMZINYATHI	174398
UTHUKELA	186387
UTHUNGULU	245858
ZULULAND	264619

LIMPOPO

DISTRICT	LEARNERS
LEBOWAKGOMO	71264
MOGALAKWENA	70308
MOPANI	181770
POLOKWANE	221136
RIBA CROSS	73888
SEKHUKHUNE	212312
TSHIPISE-SAGOLE	59928
TZANEEN	74490
VHEMBE	276760
WATERBERG	53060

MPUMALANGA

DISTRICT	LEARNERS
Bohlabela	204190
Enhlanzeni	242657
Gert Sibande	222420
Nkangala	237353

NORTH WEST

DISTRICT	LEARNERS
BOJANALA	243459
DR KENNETH KAUNDA	133460
DR RUTH S MOMPATI	169243
NGAKA MODIRI MOLEMA	164857

NORTHERN CAPE

DISTRICT	LEARNERS
FRANCES BAARD	79293
JOHN TAOLO GAETSEWE	67315
NAMAQUA	20256
PIXLEY-KA-SEME	43576

WESTERN CAPE

DISTRICT	LEARNERS
CAPE WINELANDS	85414
CENTRAL	39771
EAST	100316
EDEN KAROO	83697
NORTH	50582
OVERBERG	21278
SOUTH	66182
WEST COAST	27992

Reply:

The response to the number of deaf learners that were registered in each grade from Grade 1 to Grade 12 at each (a) full-service school and (b) school for the deaf in each province are represented in the attached detailed spreadsheet and totals are indicated below:

YEAR	TYPE OF SCHOOL	TOTAL
2017	SPECIAL NEED SCHOOL	5325
	PUBLIC ORDINARY	440
2016	SPECIAL NEED SCHOOL	4171
	PUBLIC ORDINARY	513
2015	SPECIAL NEED SCHOOL	4407
	PUBLIC ORDINARY	376

 

(a)(b)(i) for 2015

Refer annexure C

(a)(b)(ii) for 2016

Refer annexure B

(a)(b)(iii) for 2017

Refer annexure C

Reply:

1. No, the school is not participating on the programme;

 (a) The school is ranked as a quintile 4 school. In terms of the Grant Framework the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) prioritises quintile 1-3 schools. Consideration is also made to the most deserving learners in quintile 4 & 5, however, this depends on availability of funds as provided by National Treasury.

 (b) The Department is not funding the nutrition programmes in the specified school.

2. The Gauteng Provincial Department has taken steps to feed some learners beyond the priority quintiles but is constrained within the current budget limitation. The availability of funds will determine if the school will benefit in the future.

Reply:

The DBE has a partnership protocol with the South African Police Services (SAPS) and a close collaboration with the Department of Social Development in providing referral services for learners who are engaged in substance abuse.

(a) what do the plans entail

• Linking of schools to local police stations
• Conducting searches and seizures in line with the South African School’s Act, 1996 (SASA)
• Facilitating the signing of Provincial Partnership Protocols
• Combatting alcohol and drug use amongst learners in schools
• Closure of taverns/shebeens in close proximity of schools
• Searches and seizures in schools upon reasonable suspicion of the carrying of/or trading in illegal substances or weapons
• Addressing gangsterism in schools and communities
• Crime prevention programmes in schools

(b) is there a specific budget allocated

(i) nationally and/or

• The national department has a budget to train and monitor the implementation of programmes by provinces.

(ii) to each province for the implementation of these plans?

• Provinces budget for implementation of their own programmes.

Reply:

(a) (i). According to data extracted from the Education Management Information System (EMIS), there were five pregnancies reported by Tipfuweni Secondary School in 2016.

(ii). Masiqhakaze Secondary School reported 34 pregnancies in 2016 through EMIS. This represents 4% of the girl leaners enrolled in the school.

(aa). Yes

(bb). The community within which the school is located in Ekurhuleni is plagued by a host of social ills. The programmes implemented in the school include the following:

• ADAPT programme with the non-governmental organisation People Opposed to Women Abuse (POWA) focusing on health education, prevention of learner pregnancy and sexual violence;
• Peer Education programme with eleven trained peer educators in each grade. Youth camps are also held with the peer educators;
• The Centre for Positive Care facilitates workshops for vulnerable girls;
• The Department has placed a Learner Support Agent (child care coordinator) in the school to support learners to access various services;
• Nurses and social workers form the Departments of Health and Social Development respectively, assist the school with services as required.

 

Reply:

Currently the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) has no database of schools with functioning kitchens and necessary utensils. The NSNP has planned to conduct an audit on infrastructure and equipment in 2017/18 Financial Year. The information will be available at the end of the financial year.

Reply:

The Draft Framework for the development of Rural Education Policy was completed in March 2017. Subsequently, a process was set for the development of the policy. A draft has been completed and is en-route to the Minister for consideration to publish it for comments from stakeholder bodies and members of the public. Once the Minister approves the draft policy, it will be ready to be presented to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education upon request from the Committee.

Reply:

		(aa) Name of Company	(bb) The amounts outstanding	(cc) Reason for non-payment	(dd) How long have the invoices been unpaid	(ee) Envisaged date of payment
(a) DEPARTMENT
(i) Inclusive Education		N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
(ii) Special Needs System		N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
(b) ENTITIES
SACE
(i) Inclusive Education		N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
(ii) Special Needs System		N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
UMALUSI
(i) Inclusive Education (ii) Special Needs Systems	1.	UTI	R4,206.85	Invoices not paid due to the year-end budget transitions.	35 days	18/05/2017
	2.	AJ Martin Locksmiths	R685.00	Invoices not paid due to the year-end budget transitions.	36 days	12/05/2017
	3.	Brinant Security	R60,086.11	Invoices not paid due to the year-end budget transitions.	55 days	25/05/2017
	4.	Persequor Tuindienste	R2000.00	Invoices not paid due to the year-end budget transitions.	35 days	25/05/2017
	5.	Servest Cleaning	R30,115.12	Invoices not paid due to the year-end budget transitions.	55 days	29/05/2017
	6.	Kashan Advertising	R10,264.56	Documents were misplaced	53 days	27/06/2017
TOTAL			R107,357.64

Reply:

1. (a) The funding allocation to Provincial Education Departments is as follows:

Province	Allocation 2017/18	Allocation 2018/19	Allocation 2019/20
	R’000	R’000	R’000
Eastern Cape	3 537	12 283	14 622
Free State	11 368	28 864	34 360
Gauteng	12 632	30 707	36 554
KwaZulu-Natal	5 558	14 739	17 545
Limpopo	9 853	24 565	29 243
Mpumalanga	12 883	31 322	37 285
Northern Cape	2 021	6 142	7 312
North West	2 274	6 756	8 042
Western Cape	11 874	30 093	35 822
Total	72 000	185 471	220 785

(b) Provinces will distribute the grant in accordance with the following guidelines as stipulated in the Grant Framework:

• 13% for training of teachers and the 31 Outreach Teams;
• 11% for Learning and Teaching Support Materials, toolkits and equipment for centres and designated schools;
• 56% for compensation of itinerant teams and provincial co-ordinators; as well as
• 20% for administration including travel, vehicles, accommodation and subsistence.

(2) (a) The Grant will be used to benefit learners in the following ways:

• To provide therapeutic and psycho-social intervention to learners and their families in targeted 186 schools and 280 care centres by appointing and training 155 specialised staff, who will provide the therapeutic intervention and procuring equipment as well as learning teaching support materials (LTSM) to be used by the staff;
• To track, provide learner-specific support and follow up on their progress by creating a comprehensive and reliable database of learners in the targeted schools and care centres;
• To provide quality education and support to learners by further developing the professional capacity, knowledge and skills of caregivers and teachers in the 280 care centres, 186 schools;
• To facilitate leaners’ access to various government services and other intervention programmes through working collaboratively with other government departments and non-governmental organisations (NGO); and
• To advocate for learners’ rights to access public-funded quality education through documenting and reporting on the Grant’s achievements.

(b) The Grant will be used to benefit teachers in the following ways:

• To provide accredited training programmes to teachers in 186 schools, caregivers in 280 care centres and 155 therapists, on disability and on how to implement the Learning Programme for Learners with Severe to Profound Intellectual Disability;
• To develop teachers’ and caregivers’ professional practice in managing learners with severe to profound intellectual disability, through the provision of onsite training and support by a team of therapists and special needs teachers; and
• To provide caregivers in 280 targeted care centres an opportunity to acquire a Level 5 qualification, which is currently being developed by the DBE in collaboration with the University of Cape Town.

(3) Yes. The grant was prompted by the judgement of the Western Cape High Court in 2010, in the case of the Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability against the Government of South Africa and the Government of the Province of the Western Cape (Case No: 18678/2007).

Reply:

(a) MINISTER

1. As per the Ministerial Handbook and South African Police Services (SAPS) regulations, the Minister and her immediate family is provided with security services paid for by the State, through SAPS. In the event that the service provided exceeds the maximum of eighty (80) hours during a specific month, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is liable for such costs.
2. Refer to response in (a)(i).
3. None of her staff members make use of these security services.

In each case above:

(aa) What are the reasons for it?

Security Services are provided for all appointed Ministers as stated in the Ministerial Handbook.

(bb) From which department or entity’s budget is the security service being paid?

From the South African Police Services (SAPS) and the Department of Basic Education’s budget.

(cc) What are the relevant details?

Not applicable.

(b) DEPUTY MINISTER

1. As per the Ministerial Handbook and South African Police Services (SAPS) regulations, the Deputy Minister and his immediate family is provided with security services paid for by the State, through SAPS. In the event that the service provided exceeds the maximum of eighty (80) hours during a specific month, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is liable for such costs. The Deputy Minister does not have any static protection at his residences.
2. Refer to response in (b)(i).
3. None of his staff members make use of these security services.

In each case above:

(aa) What are the reasons for it?

Security Services are provided for all appointed Deputy Ministers as stated in the Ministerial Handbook.

(bb) From which department or entity’s budget is the security service being paid?

From the South African Police Services (SAPS) and the Department of Basic Education’s budget.

(cc) What are the relevant details?

Not applicable.

Umalusi Response

(c) Umalusi does not make use of any security services paid by the State for

(i) The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Umalusi;

(ii) The immediate family members of the CEO; or

(iii) Any of Umalusi’s staff members.

(aa) Not applicable

(bb) Not applicable

(cc) Not applicable

SACE Response

(c) SACE does not make use of any security services paid by the State for:

(i) The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SACE;

(ii) The immediate family members of the CEO; or

(iii) Any of SACE’s staff members.

(aa) Not applicable

(bb) Not applicable

(cc) Not applicable

Reply:

(a) Department of Basic Education		Whether any staff of the entity reporting to her were awarded any contracts or agreements to conduct business with any state entity in the following financial years:
(b)		2014 -15 : Ms MB Fuzile & Ms SAM Mabasa
		2015-16 : Ms MB Fuzile
		2016-17 : Ms MB Fuzile & Ms Letsoha-Mathae
(aa)	(aaa)	Ms MB Fuzile Ms SAM Mabasa Ms MJ Letsoha-Mathae
	(bbb)	Chief Education Specialist Senior Secretary Deputy Director
(bb)	(aaa)	Ms Fuzile : Renting her building to the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development Ms Mabasa: The Company provided maintenance products and branding services for City of Tshwane and for the Department of Water and Sanitation Ms Letsoha-Mathae: The Companies did business with SASSA-Free State
	(bbb)	1. R20 580.00 per month 2. She did not receive any proceeds 3. R72 595 and R787 367

UMALUSI RESPONSE

(b) Umalusi is not aware of any full-time staff member employed by Umalusi that was awarded any contract or agreements to conduct business with any state entity in the following financial years:

(i) 2014-15;

(ii) 2015-16; and

(iii) 2016-17.

(aaa) Not applicable

(aa) (bbb) Not applicable

(bb) (aaa) Not applicable

(bb) (bbb) Not applicable

SACE RESPONSE

(b) SACE is not aware of any full-time staff member employed by SACE that was awarded any contract or agreements to conduct business with any state entity in the following financial years:

(i) 2014-15;

(ii) 2015-16; and

(iii) 2016-17.

(aaa) Not applicable

(aa) (bbb) Not applicable

(bb) (aaa) Not applicable

(bb) (bbb) Not applicable

Reply:

The Department has forwarded the question to the Provincial Education Departments and responses were received from eight PEDs. The Eastern Cape Department of Education’s response in this regard is still outstanding. A follow-up letter was sent to the ECDoE on 24 July 2017. The table below contains a summary of responses.

Province	No. schools to be closed/ merged (a) (i) and (ii)	Name of school (b)	Reason for closure (c )	Host schools (d)	Timelines (e)	Transport arrangement (f)	Additional resources required (g)	Consultation (2)
EC	NO RESPONSE
FS	90	Annexure A	non-viable	Annexure A	between June and December 2017	not required	none	Consultation Meetings took place at some of these schools however, where the residents have already left the farms, it was difficult to conduct them and a declaration form has been completed to that effect by the relevant Circuit Manager.
GP	14	Annexure A	Small and non-viable	Annexure A		Provided where necessary	resources follow learners	Annexure F
KZN	865	Annexure A	small and non-viable	Annexure A	Annexure C	Not indicated	Not indicated	Not indicated
LP	476	Annexure A	small and non-viable	Annexure A		provision for 42 out of 68 schools have been made	142 mobile classrooms are required	All schools were consulted accordingly. They furthermore received MEC’s letters for merging. The notice was advertised in the local newspapers. MEC’s also consulted all relevant stakeholders in their respective Districts. There was also a media briefing to that effect. See also Annexure G
MP	8	Annexure A	Small and non-viable Schools on private property with unsafe buildings Save on rentals See Annexure B	boarding school	2017/18 financial year	Not indicated	resources follow learners	The process of consultation for the closure of the schools has not commenced. It will commence as the building of the boarding school commences
NC	8	Annexure A	low learner enrolment and realignment of middle schools	Annexure A	March 2017 to September 2018 Annexure C	Annexure D	Annexure E	District management teams already started with initial consultations in all instances, and public hearings will commence in the next quarter with provision being made for written comments as well
NW	24	Annexure A	small schools	Annexure A	2017/2018 financial year Annexure C	Annexure D	resources follow learners	Thorough consultation with affected and relevant stakeholders is done for the smooth running of the process
WC	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Reply:

All learners have been placed for the 2017 academic year.

Reply:

See tables below:

Questions (a)(aa) to (a)(cc) – Ordinary Schools

Question	(a) (aa)	(i)	(ii)
Exam Date	Province	Total Wrote	Total Achieved
201411	Eastern Cape	12	1
201411	Free State	4	3
201411	Gauteng	18	12
201411	KwaZulu-Natal	28	25
201411	Limpopo	18	1
201411	Mpumalanga	0	0
201411	North West	0	0
201411	Northern Cape	0	0
201411	Western Cape	14	12

Data source: NSC Exam System – Data as on the day of the official release of results for 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

2.

Question	(a) (bb)	(i)	(ii)
Exam Date	Province	Total Wrote	Total Achieved
201511	Eastern Cape	14	1
201511	Free State	0	0
201511	Gauteng	14	12
201511	KwaZulu-Natal	25	22
201511	Limpopo	22	2
201511	Mpumalanga	1	1
201511	North West	0	0
201511	Northern Cape	0	0
201511	Western Cape	20	19

Data source: NSC Exam System – Data as on the day of the official release of results for 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Question	(a) (cc)	(i)	(ii)
Exam Date	Province	Total Wrote	Total Achieved
201611	Eastern Cape	15	3
201611	Free State	3	1
201611	Gauteng	31	11
201611	KwaZulu-Natal	26	14
201611	Limpopo	66	1
201611	Mpumalanga	1	1
201611	North West	0	0
201611	Northern Cape	7	0
201611	Western Cape	53	45

Data source: NSC Exam System – Data as on the day of the official release of results for 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

3.

Questions (b)(aa) to (b)(cc) – Deaf Schools

Question	(b) (aa)	(i)	(ii)
Exam Date	Province	Total Wrote	Total Achieved
201411	EASTERN CAPE	6	2
201411	FREE STATE	12	11
201411	GAUTENG	53	32
201411	KWAZULU-NATAL	22	22
201411	LIMPOPO	38	15
201411	MPUMALANGA	0	0
201411	NORTH WEST	0	0
201411	NORTHERN CAPE	3	3
201411	WESTERN CAPE	4	4

Data source: NSC Exam System – Data as on the day of the official release of results for 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Question	(b) (bb)	(i)	(ii)
Exam Date	Province	Total Wrote	Total Achieved
201511	EASTERN CAPE	7	3
201511	FREE STATE	15	5
201511	GAUTENG	41	37
201511	KWAZULU-NATAL	20	14
201511	LIMPOPO	36	6
201511	MPUMALANGA	0	0
201511	NORTH WEST	0	0
201511	NORTHERN CAPE	4	0
201511	WESTERN CAPE	10	9

Data source: NSC Exam System – Data as on the day of the official release of results for 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Question	(b) (cc)	(i)	(ii)
Exam Date	Province	Total Wrote	Total Achieved
201611	EASTERN CAPE	7	3
201611	FREE STATE	21	15
201611	GAUTENG	72	44
201611	KWAZULU-NATAL	20	9
201611	LIMPOPO	72	7
201611	MPUMALANGA	0	0
201611	NORTH WEST	0	0
201611	NORTHERN CAPE	4	5
201611	WESTERN CAPE	16	13

Data source: NSC Exam System – Data as on the day of the official release of results for 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Reply:

(a),(b)(i),(ii),(iii).The information requested is currently not available at the national Department. It will be requested from the respective Provincial Education Departments and be provided as soon as it is received.

Reply:

1. The process of merging, closing and rationalisation of small and unviable schools, led to major delays, which delayed the allocation of projects to implementing agents and contractors, which in effect led to lower spending. Non-performing contractors and Implementing Agents (IAs) also had a negative effect on performance and expenditure. The process of terminating and replacing contractors and IAs is lengthy and as such, the projects that are stopped do not generate any expenditure during that process. The process of replacing the service providers has been concluded. Finally, in some parts of the country, inclement weather severely affected work at sites.

2. The Western Cape was allocated R 274 804 000 in 2015-16 financial year. Expenditure for the 2015-16 financial year was R 329 098 000.

Reply:

SACE Response

The qualifications held by our CFO are as follows:

Name of Qualification	Institution	Date obtained
National Certificate in State Accounts	UNISA	1994
National Diploma in State Accounts and Finance	UNISA	1996

UMALUSI Response

The qualifications held by the newly appointed CFO are as follows:

Name of Qualification	Institution	Date obtained
Baccalaureus Commercii (B.Comm) – Accounting Science	University of Pretoria (UP)	2002
B.Comm (Honores) – Accounting Science	University of Pretoria (UP)	2003
Certificate in Accounting Science (CTA)	University of Pretoria (UP)	2003
Chartered Accountant – CA(SA)	South African Institute of Chartered Accountants ( SAICA)	2006

Reply:

The principal of Manyano Primary School, Mr Mseteka KJ was suspended from the school pending an investigation by the Mpumalanga Department of Education. The Principal was subsequently charged and following a disciplinary hearing, he was found guilty and dismissed.

Reply:

UMALUSI RESPONSE

(a) Umalusi has a Council in place as the Accounting Authority.

(i) Below is the information as requested regarding the Council of Umalusi:

Name	Appointment date (aa)	Term lapsing (bb)
1. Prof. JD Volmink Chairperson	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
2. Prof. ND Kgwadi (Deputy Chairperson)	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
3. Dr MS Rakometsi (CEO: Umalusi)	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
4. Prof. PAD Beets	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
5. Prof. N. Baijnath CEO: Council on Higher Education (CHE)	1 October 2015	8 June 2018
6. Ms F Dada	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
7. Mr MHW Ehrenreich	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
8. Mr NT Johnstone	1 September 2015	8 June 2018
9. Mr D Hindle*	15 December 2016	8 June 2018
10. Dr MJ Maboya**	1 July 2016	8 June 2018
11. Dr EB Mahlobo	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
12. Prof. MG Mahlomaholo	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
13. Prof. L Makalela	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
14. Dr R Mampane	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
15. Adv. MJ Merabe***	15 December 2016	8 June 2018
16. Prof. MLE Monnapula - Mapesela	7 June 2014	8 June 2018
17. Mr E Mosuwe****	24 October 2016	8 June 2018
18. Mr V Naidoo***** CEO: Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO)	1 June 2017	8 June 2018
19. Mr JS Samuels CEO: South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)	7 June 2014	8 June 2018

(*) Replaced Professor Loock who resigned on 10 December 2015 as member of Council.

(**) Appointed Deputy Director – General: Curriculum Policy, Support and Monitoring at the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and replaced Mr Mweli, Director – General: DBE in Council.

(***) Replaced Dr L Becker who resigned on 20 June 2016 as member of Council.

(****) Appointed Head of Department of Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) and replaced Dr N Sishi as a representative of Heads of Education Departments Committee (HEDCOM) in Council.

(*****) Appointed CEO of QCTO and replaced Ms Joyce Mashabela – the former CEO of QCTO.

(II) Umalusi Council:

(aa) Number of members:

The Council for the period 8 June 2014 to 7 June 2018 consists of 15 members appointed by the Minister of Basic Education and the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Umalusi, the Council on Higher Education (CHE); Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO); and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). The Minister also appoints one of the members as Chairperson. The Council is responsible for policy and overall governance, with the day-to-day management delegated to the Chief Executive Officer.

(bb) Number of female board members:

Four members:

1. Ms Fathima Dada;
2. Dr Mamiki J Maboya;
3. Dr Ruth Mampane; and
4. Professor Mabokang Monnapula-Mapesela.

SACE RESPONSE

1. (a) The South African Council for Educators (SACE) has a Council and not a Board.

(b) Not applicable to SACE.

(aa) The Council members were appointed on 1 August 2013.

(bb) The term of the current SACE Council is coming to an end on 31 July 2017.

(ii) (aa) there are 30 Council members (inclusive of the Chairperson and Acting CEO).

(bb) Females: Seven (7).

2. (a) (b) Not Applicable to SACE.

Reply:

(1) (a) and (b) The allocation and Expenditure per Province:

Provinces	Column A	Column B
	Allocation	Expenditure
	2016/17	2016/17
	R'000	R'000
Eastern Cape	1 543 664	614 915
Free State	237 487	166 524
KwaZulu-Natal	106 869	61 243
Limpopo	83 120	115 754
Mpumalanga	83 120	81 872
Northern Cape	23 749	122
North West	35 623	2 562
Total	2 113 632	1 042 992

(2) (a) & (b) (I & II) The School Infrastructure Backlogs Grant is not allocated to provinces but to the Department of Basic Education. The funding indicated above, therefore, depicts the value of projects implemented per province through the programme and not an allocation to a province. As a result, no funding was withdrawn or returned to National Treasury as a result of underspending in a province. The entire programme underspent by R 874 753 000. Reasons for under expenditure vary from programme to programme but they include, but not limited to poor performance by Implementing Agents and contractors, inclement weather, occasional shortage of building material and works disruption due to community led disruptions and industrial action. Poor contractor performance in all provinces and the procedure required to replace them also contributes to under expenditure. The process of rationalisation of small and unviable schools, especially in the Eastern Cape, also played a major role in the underperformance of the programme.

Reply:

(a) 

Table 1 below indicates that, in 2016, there were 803 learners who fell pregnant in KwaZulu-Natal. The majority of these learners were in Grade 12 at 201 learners. With regards to availability of Mpumalanga data, the Department will indicate as soon as the province responds.

Table 1: Number of learners who fell pregnant, by grade, in KwaZulu-Natal, in 2016

Province	Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5	Grade 6	Grade 8	Grade 9	Grade 10	Grade 11	Grade 12	Other	Total
KZN	19	17	22	19	29	63	158	178	201	97	803

Source: KZN 2016 Annual School Survey

Note 1: The Annual School Survey question on learner pregnancy asks the school principal for: “the number of learners (That they are aware of) who got pregnant the previous academic year”.

Note 2: The data, as received from the province, are preliminary and must be treated with caution, since it has not been published in this format.

(b)

The basic education system does not track this at the moment. Tracking the return of learners after giving birth may be something we could explore in future as a sector. However, we have a policy that does not prevent learners from returning. Parents have a responsibility to ensure that learners return to school after giving birth, not the Department necessarily

Reply:

The policy is still a draft and will come into effect once presented and approved at Cabinet. The Department could however present the draft policy to the Portfolio Committee as per the Committee’s invitation

Reply:

(1) As at the end of March 2017, there are 24 467 Principals.

(2) (a) None.

(b) None.

(c) 19 115.

(d) 2 272.

(e) Information on PERSAL that shows the actual qualification is currently not complete on the PERSAL system. It is therefore not possible to give the number of Principals with a qualification from a further education and training as part of their professional teaching qualifications.

(3) A significant number of Principals have management qualifications. This could be school-related qualifications e.g. Advanced Certificate in Education-School Leadership and Management or general management qualifications. Existing information on the PERSAL system that shows the actual qualifications in this field is not complete. It is therefore not possible at this stage to show a specific number of Principals with a management qualification.

Reply:

1. (a) Unqualified educators possess Matric as their highest qualification. The subject/learning area they are allocated to teach is based on the subjects passed at matric level. However, these educators are included in the various in-service training opportunities and programmes to improve their competency in the subject knowledge and methodology.

Under-qualified educators possess 2-3 years of professional training. The reason why they are referred to as under-qualified is that their qualification no longer meets the required minimum qualification level due to the increase of the minimum qualification required to matric plus 3 years of professional training. These educators were trained in both subject knowledge and teaching methodology, but their initial training has since become inadequate. The table below summarises the split between un-and-under-qualified educators as provided in question 980.

Year	Unqualified	Under-qualified	Total
	REQV 10	REQV 11	REQV 12
2014	5 388	252	1 079	6 719
2015	4 587	258	1 185	6 030
2016	3 848	218	1 073	5 139

(b) As was indicated previously subjects most affected are those that have been identified in the sector as scarce and critical skills areas which include mainly Mathematics, Sciences and Technology at all levels and African Language teaching, particularly at Foundation Phase.

2. (a) and (b) Un and under-qualified teachers do not meet the requirements for appointment since they do not have REQV 13. In the case of un-qualified teachers, the affected educators are encouraged and supported to take advantage of open programmes various provincial bursaries to improve their qualifications. In addition, they are given opportunities to participate in in-service training programmes. In the case of under-qualified teachers who have a degree, but still need to be professionally trained, they are also supported and encouraged to obtain the one-year professional diploma that will qualify them as teachers. They are also granted Funza Lushaka bursaries or any other provincial bursary that is available to them. These teachers also participate in in-service training programmes to enhance their knowledge.

It must also be noted that the un-and-under-qualified educators are appointed in a temporary capacity. Those that do not take advantage of existing opportunities to improve their qualifications are continuously being replaced with qualified educators resulting in the annual reduction of un-and under-qualified educators employed in schools.

Reply:

(a) BASIC EDUCATION
	(a)	The Department of Basic Education had appointed the Audit firms to observe and advise during the evaluation and adjudication of tenders during the period 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016.
	i.	As per attached list as Annexure A
	ii.	As per attached list as Annexure A
	iii.	As per attached list as Annexure A
	iv.	As per attached list as Annexure A
(b) ENTITIES
SACE	(b)	Each entity reporting to the Minister appointed transaction advisors for tenders in the period 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016	No, SACE has never appointed transactional advisors for tenders for the period January 2012 till December 2016
		N/A
		N/A
		N/A
	iv	N/A
UMALUSI		Each entity reporting to the Minister appointed transaction advisors for tenders in the period 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016.	Umalusi is a member of the Purchasing Consortium Southern Africa (PURCO SA). PURCO SA is committed to the principle of collaboration with its members to save time and money through professional and focused collaborative procurement whilst strengthening partnerships with all stakeholders in the Higher Education Sector in Southern Africa. PURCO served and assisted in terms of secretarial services for all the bid committees for the period 1 January 2012 to December 2015 at no cost to Umalusi. The relationship does not constitute the appointment of transaction advisors.
		N/A
		N/A
		N/A
		N/A

Reply:

The number of (a) Braille writers and (b) voice synthesisers that were (i) employed in each of the past three financial years are provided in the table below:

Province	2014/2015	2015/2016	2016/2017
	Number of Braille writers	Number of voice synthesisers	Number of Braille writers	Number of voice synthesisers	Number of Braille writers	Number of voice synthesisers
EC	49	2	111	2	111	2
FS	117	55	117	55	165	65
GT	71	44	46	18	0	12
KZN (this is for 1 school)	17	2	0	2	44	4
LP	532	0	425	0	281	0
MP	15	0	20	0	46	0
NC	20	0	20	20	20	20
NW	-	-	-	-	-	-
WC	0	0	145	0	214	0
Total	821	103	884	97	881	103

NB: The numbers for North West province are still being sourced.

The number of (a) Braille writers and (b) voice synthesisers that are (ii) currently employed in (aa) full service, (bb) special needs and (cc) mainstream school in each province, are represented in the table below:

Province	Full service school	Special schools	Mainstream schools
	Number of Braille writers	Number of voice synthesisers	Number of Braille writers	Number of voice synthesisers	Number of Braille writers	Number of voice synthesisers
EC	0	0	111	2	0	0
FS	-	-	-	-	-	-
GT	0	12	116	61	1	1
KZN	-	-	-	-	-	-
LP	0	0	1 238	0	0	0
MP	0	0	31	0	0	0
NC	0	0	0	0	0	0
NW	-	-	-	-	-	-
WC	0	0	214	0	0	0
Total	0	12	1 710	63	1	1

Reply:

(1)(a)(b)(ii)

Table 1: Number of learners with hearing and sight impairment, in special schools, by province, in 2016

Province	Hearing Impairment	Sight Impairment
EC	774	432
FS	458	283
GP	2 353	1124
KZN	1 218	452
LP	795	561
MP	198	55
NC	10	1
NW	406	241
WC	1 178	436
National	7 390	3 585

Source: 2016 SNE SNAP Survey

Table 2: Number of learners with hearing and sight impairment, in mainstream schools, by province, in 2016

Province	Hearing Impairment	Sight Impairment
Eastern Cape	2 030	1 783
Free State	682	1 121
Gauteng	2 071	8 345
Kwazulu-Natal	252	320
Limpopo	60	93
Mpumalanga	211	187
North West	20	46
Northern Cape	42	217
Western Cape	125	77
National	5 493	12 189

Source: 2016 Annual Survey for ordinary schools

Table 3: Number of learners with hearing and sight impairment, in full service schools, by province, in 2016

Province	Hearing	Sight
EC	77	198
FS	75	222
GP	40	112
KZ	24	52
LP	6	9
MP	38	64
NC	2	1
NW	14	13
WC	5	3
National	281	674

Source: 2016 Annual Survey for ordinary schools

 

(2)(a)(b)

Of all nine province, only two (Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape) does not have schools specifically for learners with hearing and sight impairment. Below is the list of specialised schools.

Table 4: List of Special Schools specifically for learners with hearing and Sight impairment, in each province

Source: 2016 SNE SNAP Survey

Nat Emis	Province	Institution Name	Education District	Learner Number
101301602	WC	CAREL DU TOIT SENTRUM.	METRO NORTH	180
101324612	WC	ATHLONE SKOOL VIR BLINDES	METRO NORTH	306
103315605	WC	DOMINICAN GRIMLEY-SCHOOL	METRO CENTRAL	102
105309608	WC	MARY KIHN SCHOOL	METRO CENTRAL	82
105314633	WC	DOMINIKAANSE SKOOL VIR DOWES	METRO SOUTH	240
106000108	WC	NOLUTHANDO SCH. FOR THE DEAF	METRO EAST	339
130315604	WC	DE LA BAT-SKOOL	CAPE WINELANDS	201
200100648	EC	REUBIN BIRIN SCHOOL	PORT ELIZABETH	115
200100892	EC	KHANYISA SCHOOL	PORT ELIZABETH	109
200200819	EC	ST THOMAS	KING WILLIAMS TOWN	240
200501311	EC	ZAMOKUHLE SPECIAL SCHOOL	MBIZANA	158
200501449	EC	SIVE SCHOOL	MALUTI	161
445802148	FS	CAREL DU TOIT SPECIAL SCHOOL	MOTHEO	16
500103563	KZN	ARTHUR BLAXALL SCHOOL	UMGUNGUNDLOVU	216
500125467	KZN	DURBAN SCHOOL FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED	UMLAZI	67
500142302	KZN	ETHEMBENI SCHOOL FOR THE PHYSICALLY DISABLED AND VISUALLY IM	PINETOWN	236
500145632	KZN	FULTON SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	PINETOWN	100
500183853	KZN	KWATHINTWA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	PINETOWN	353
500183890	KZN	KWAVULINDLEBE SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	UMLAZI	62
500290783	KZN	VN NAIK SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	UMLAZI	248
500293484	KZN	VULEKA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	UTHUNGULU	310
600102377	NW	KUTLWANONG SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	RUSTENBURG	311
600102380	NW	NW SEC SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	MAQUASSI HILLS	64
600105106	NW	CHRISTIANA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND	GREATER TAUNG	122
700151654	GP	ST VINCENT SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	JOHANNESBURG EAST	353
700231456	GP	TRANSORANJE-SKOOL VIR DOWES	TSHWANE SOUTH	200
700232454	GP	PRINSHOF SCHOOL	TSHWANE WEST	407
700240648	GP	DOMINICAN SCHOOL FOR DEAF CHILDREN	TSHWANE NORTH	76
700251900	GP	SIZWILE	JOHANNESBURG WEST	293
700331322	GP	SIBONILE SCHOOL FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED	SEDIBENG EAST	127
700341560	GP	EKURHULENI SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF	EKURHULENI SOUTH	250
700400361	GP	JOHANNESBURG SCHOOL FOR BLIND, LOW VISION AND MULTIPLE DISAB	JOHANNESBURG NORTH	18
904261263	LP	SILOE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND	LEBOWAKGOMO	108
924651781	LP	BOSELE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND DEAF	SEKHUKHUNE	351
929332041	LP	RIVONI SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND	VHEMBE	91

Reply:

1. (a) The number of districts with District Support Teams over the past three financial years is provided in the table below:

	Number of Districts with DSTs
PROVINCE	2014-2015	2015-2016	2016-2017
EC	0	23	12
FS	5	5	5
GP	15	15	15
KZN	4	5	5
LP	5	4	4
MP	4	5	5
NC	5	4	4
NW	4	12	12
WC	8	8	8
Total	50	81	70

Source: Provincial data for 2017

b) The training of the District Support Teams covered: Curriculum Differentiation, Policy on Concessions and the Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS).

(2) The training is not repeated in the districts where it has already taken place, but is followed by monitoring and support for implementation.

Reply:

(a)

Table 1 below indicates the number of full service primary schools, by province, between 2015 and 2017. It shows that, the number of full service primary schools increased from 457 in 2015 to 662 in 2017. The decrease in the Western Cape is due to redesignation of full service schools done by the Superintended General.

Table 1: Number of primary schools converted into Full Service schools, by province, between 2015 and 2016

Province	2015	2016	2017
EC	7	7	28
FS	40	135	175
GP	19	19	26
KZ	57	58	87
LP	14	14	15
MP	114	114	115
NC	7	7	7
NW	80	80	171
WC	119	119	38
National	457	553	662

Source 1: 2015/16 Schools Master-list,

Source 2: PED’s Submissions

(b) The information on the number of remedial classrooms with trained educators is currently not available. It has been requested from the Provincial Education Departments and will be provided as soon as it is obtained.

Reply:

(a) The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is currently in the process of appointing four consultants. The names of the consultants will be availed once the appointments are finalised.

 

(b) The Department identified experts in four fields related to this study, namely,

1) A research specialist on the international implementation of examination boards globally,

2) A curriculum design specialist,

3) A policy specialist, and

4) A finance specialist.

 

(c) The consultants will be appointed on a short term contract and the work is expected to be completed within three months of commencement.

 

(d) The terms of reference for the four experts that are proposed for this task and their respective responsibilities, are as follows:

1) A research specialist in the field of education in South Africa whose responsibility will be to conduct the international research on the implementation of examination boards globally, their value and the challenges confronted by these boards.

2) A curriculum specialist with in-depth knowledge and experience of examinations and curriculum in the South African context and an established expert in the field of examination administration and curriculum implementation whose responsibility will be to assist in the design of the new model after having taking cognisance of the international research and finding the best fit for the South African context.

3) A policy specialist responsible for the qualification, curriculum and assessment policy development in the Department of Basic Education. A change in the organisational arrangement relating to public examinations, therefore requires the expertise of a policy specialist, who will be able to identify the implications of this new arrangement on the various pieces of legislation that currently govern curriculum and assessment.

4) A financial expert who understands the financial implications of the examination system with the responsibility of costing the current examination arrangement across the DBE and the nine Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), inclusive of Umalusi and the costing of the new arrangement for each of the parties concerned.

Reply:

 

1. Schools and learners who are not transported due to budgetary constraints are kept on a database and prioritised when additional funding becomes available.

(a) The criteria used by provinces to determine the priority schools is based on the criteria that are used to identify learners in those schools as directed by the learner transport policy. The criteria are as follows:

• Priority is given to primary school learners who walk long distances to schools;
• Beneficiaries must be needy learners from Grade R to 12;
• Learner transport will be subsidised to the nearest appropriate school only and not to a school of parental choice (parental choice means parents prefer to enrol their children at schools other than the nearest suitable school);
• Priority must be given to learners with disabilities, taking into consideration the nature of the disability; and

• Existing learner transport services must be taken into account when identifying beneficiaries as no learner transport services will be provided in areas where public transport is available in order to avoid duplication of services and resources.

(b) Information has been requested from provinces and will be made available once received.

(2) Yes. There are schools that were identified as a result of rationalisation. A costing exercise is undertaken as part of the rationalisation programme to determine the additional funding required and requests are made for these funds, over and above the existing budget.

Reply:

(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f) Information received from the said provinces indicates that the said provinces have not as yet requested additional funding from the National Treasury to cover the shortfall in their 2017-18 scholar transport budgets. However, discussions are underway within the Provincial Departments to seek mechanisms to address the shortages from their respective provincial budgets.

Reply:

(1)(a)(i)(ii)

Please note that the data for 1994 is not available. However, the earliest date for which the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has reliable information is 2002. Table 1 below shows the number of Afrikaans single medium schools over 10 years using 2002 as a baseline. In 2002, there were 1 814 Afrikaans single medium schools in South Africa. The majority of these schools were found in the Western Cape, followed by the Northern Cape with 289 schools.

(1)(b)

(i) The demographics in the area of some schools have changed. In response to the growing number of learners wanting English as the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT), the schools have introduced English as second language of instruction.

(ii) Declining number of Afrikaans speaking learners forces the schools to revert to parallel-medium (English/Afrikaans) schools.

(2) The number of Afrikaans single medium schools shows a decrease from 1 814 in 2002 to 1 234 in 2016. The major decrease took place in 2010 where the number of Afrikaans medium schools dropped by 158 schools.

Note that the only increase in the number of Afrikaans medium schools occurred between the years 2005 – 2008. The rest of the years recorded indicate a decrease.

Table 1: Number of Afrikaans single medium schools, by province, between 2002 and 2016

Province	2002	2005	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
EC	221	214	212	202	203	192	173	193	164	173	168
FS	113	98	91	70	69	68	76	75	77	79	74
GT	266	186	254	252	222	217	188	168	182	183	108
KZ	45	19	31	30	18	15	14	12	12	3	3
LP	39	31	45	44	41	26	24	22	24	26	27
MP	27	53	95	91	69	61	58	28	25	28	23
NC	289	221	248	231	182	247	245	231	237	201	174
NW	78	102	95	100	64	58	64	52	55	54	41
WC	736	802	687	681	675	666	649	648	635	626	616
Total	1814	1 729	1758	1701	1543	1550	1491	1429	1411	1373	1234

Source: 2002-2015 Annual School Survey and 2016 LURITS

Reply:

a) The Department of Basic Education (DBE), working with the Limpopo Department of Education, has held numerous engagement meetings with key stakeholders to ensure that normality is restored for learners to be back in classes in Vuwani, Vhembe District. The intention of these engagements has primarily been to enlist support to advocate for the upholding and respect of the right to a basic education. The stakeholders that have been involved include the following: teacher unions operating in the areas: National Professional Teachers Organisation South Africa (NAPTOSA), Professional Educators Union (PEU) and South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU); Principals of schools; Chairpersons of School Governing Bodies (SGBs); Department of Social Development; Department of Health; the Education Forum; the Pastors’ Forum; the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT); and the Business Forum. The stakeholders have worked tirelessly to engage communities in assisting the DBE to restore normality. The Education Forum, Pastors’ Forum, school governing body formations, the NECT, traditional leaders and teacher unions took a unanimous decision to support all efforts aimed at restoring education services in Vuwani. The LP DoE has been tracking the attendance of both teachers and learners, and attendance rates have been improving, which suggests that learners and teachers are responding to the call.

During the 2016 disruptions:

• Parolees as well as Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers were utilised for the cleaning of the schools, rubble removal and clearing of ground for mobile classes. Parents and SGBs of affected schools formed part of the cleaning team.
• Donations were received from various donors. Donations received included textbooks, stationery, photocopiers, data projectors and laptops, sanitary towels and toiletries, eating utensils, brooms and mops, Science Kits and desks and these are being put to good use. All these collectively came from the following donors: NECT, Game and Massmart, Mvula Trust, Stats SA, Letaba Estate, Leda and KLM.

In reality, the Department of Basic Education does not have the capacity and means to take measures to prevent and control organised and co-ordinated disruptions of learning and teaching processes, considering the reasons for the Vuwani crisis. However, the Department has taken measures to mitigate the impact of the disruptions, including the provision of mobile classrooms, school furniture, textbooks and stationery as well as feeding for learners where necessary.

b) The LDoE has developed a catch-up plan for Vuwani to ensure that learners can return to the normal routine as far as the school calendar is concerned. According to the catch-up plan, recovery teaching and learning will run (in the morning and afternoon from Monday to Thursday; and on Saturdays) until learners write the May/June Examinations. For Grades 1 to 11, the programme includes chunking of the content to ensure that the work is covered over the available period. Pace setters are being used to identify any backlog in curriculum coverage per school, per subject, with the view of implementing an accelerated programme to catch up. E-learning solutions (from Vodacom) are being used particularly for Grade 12. Enrichment camping sessions have also been organised for Grade 12 learners, where targeted content in designated subjects will be offered by District Lead Teachers. Learners will also be exposed to examination guidelines and coached on answering difficult questions in order to ensure adequate preparation.

The implementation of the catch-up plan in schools is being monitored and supported by multidisciplinary teams. The aim is to ensure that the plan is effective and adequate as a mechanism for ensuring that learners and teachers can cover work lost during disruptions. Teacher unions, in particular, have been very supportive in supporting the catch-up plan by encouraging their members to volunteer their services, even after normal working hours.

Counselling services have been made available for affected learners, teachers and parents to make sure effective teaching and learning in schools take place. These counselling support sessions will be available for teachers, learners and affected parents until the May/June examinations. These sessions are provided by the Pastors’ Forum, Department of Health and Department of Social Development.

Reply:

The District-Based Support Team at Ekangala District, during the week leading up to the funeral of the said learner, provided counselling to the learner’s classmates and the class teacher. Beyond the classroom, considering the limited human resources for the counselling, a broad screening assessment was undertaken in the school to identify and target learners and educators that may require psychosocial support the most. In addition, the family members were also given psychosocial support.

Reply:

The Department has forwarded the question to the Provincial Education Departments and is awaiting the response. The response will be forwarded as soon as the Department receives it.

Reply:

Information from the Mpumalanga Department of Education is that the school for the hearing impaired has not been constructed by the department as yet. When the project was identified, the Department commenced with the search for a site for the school for the deaf and the criteria for the site selection was proximity to a hearing institute and a provincial hospital for the purpose of the routine assessments of the learners. Four (4) sites were identified and all were found to be unsuitable due to reasons including inadequate size, distance from an ear institute and provincial hospital and unsuitable terrain. Further, assistance was solicited from Mbombela Local Municipality and Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA) without success. However, it in the absence of the site, the Department proceeded with benchmarking the curriculum delivery and infrastructure delivery models with other provinces, namely KZN, Gauteng and Western Cape. In addition, the Department proceeded and completed the generic designs for the proposed school and is only waiting for adaptation to a site, once available. A suitable site has subsequently been identified in Kaapsche Hoop, 25km outside Nelspruit. Negotiations have ensued in an effort to secure the land as the stakeholders and the MPDoE is satisfied with the suitability of the site. A budget has been allocated in the 2017/18 financial year Infrastructure Plan for environmental assessment, geotechnical investigations, topographical survey and the subsequent adaptation of the generic designs onto the site layout plan. Construction of the school is projected to commence 2018/19 financial year.

Reply:

(1)(a)

Table 1 below indicates that, in 2016, there were 23 718 public schools that are operational. Majority of these schools are situated in KwaZulu-Natal (5 895) followed by the Eastern Cape with 5 468 schools.

Table 1: Number of operational public schools, by province, in 2016

Province	Number of schools
EC	5 468
FS	1 214
GP	2 083
KZ	5 895
LP	3 867
MP	1 725
NC	544
NW	1 472
WC	1 450
Grand Total	23 718

Source: 2016 Master list

1 (b)(c) The Department has forwarded the question to the Provincial Education Department and is awaiting the response. The response will be forwarded as soon as the Department receives it.

2(a) (b)

The Department has forwarded the question to the Provincial Education Department and is awaiting the response. The response will be forwarded as soon as the Department receives it.

3 (a)(b) The information has been requested from all the Provincial Education Departments and will be provided as soon as it received.

Reply:

1. Schools currently do not have allocated educators who provide counselling, support and advice to pregnant learners. Schools currently manage learner pregnancies through their respective codes of conduct, with guidance from the School Management Team. The Draft Policy on Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy, once approved, will provide guidelines to the School Management Team on how best to identify and allocate educators to carry this responsibility.

2. Educators volunteer to take up this responsibility.

Reply:

(a)(b) Yes, each province has a formal provincial scholar transport policy. Policies developed are in line with the national policy and addressing provincial mandates.